The power dissipation of integrated circuit chips, and the modules containing the chips, continues to increase in order to achieve increases in processor performance. This trend poses a cooling challenge at both the module and system levels. Increased airflow rates are needed to effectively cool high powered modules and to limit the temperature of the air that is exhausting into the data center.
In many large server applications, processors, along with their associated electronics (e.g., memory, disk drives, power supplies, etc.), are packaged in removable drawer configurations stacked within a rack or frame. In other cases, the electronics may be in a fixed location within the rack or frame. Often, the physical location of a rack or frame may change within a data center as the result of a reconfiguration of the data center.
Typically, the components of an electronics rack are cooled by air moving in parallel airflow paths, usually front-to-back, and propelled by one or more air-moving devices (e.g., fans or blowers). In some cases, it may be possible to handle increased power dissipation within a single drawer by providing greater airflow, through the use of a more powerful air-moving device or by increasing the rotational speed (i.e., RPMs) of an existing air-moving device. However, this approach may be problematic at the rack level in the context of a computer installation (i.e., data center).